The British Ministry of Defence recently announced that the Department of Defense’s National Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in Burton, United Kingdom, has invented a new process named “FAST-forge” that can incorporate 40 titanium alloys. The production process steps are reduced to only two steps, thereby revolutionizing the titanium alloy production process, and the cost of the titanium alloy is expected to be halved.

The British Ministry of Defence recently announced that the Department of Defense’s National Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in Burton, United Kingdom, has invented a new process named “FAST-forge” that can incorporate 40 titanium alloys. The production process steps are reduced to only two steps, thereby revolutionizing the titanium alloy production process, and the cost of the titanium alloy is expected to be halved.

Titanium has the same high strength as steel and weighs only half as much as steel, but the cost of titanium alloy is about 10 times that of steel. Titanium alloys are difficult to manufacture and expensive to limit their wide application.

Dstl promoted the development of this process at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. At present, the technology has been trial-production of small-size products, and large-scale rapid melting furnace facilities jointly funded by Dstl and the United Kingdom subsidiary of Kenna Metal Manufacturing have been established to start trial production of larger-sized parts. .

According to Nick Weston, "Fast Forging" is a disruptive technology that enables titanium powders or granules to be formed into parts in near net shape through two simple processing steps. Such components have comparable mechanical properties to the forged product. This technology allows the cost of parts to plummet, allowing the use of titanium alloys in automotive applications such as powertrains and suspension systems.

Matthew Lunt, chief scientist of Dstl's material sciences, said: "We are very excited about this innovation, which can reduce the production cost of titanium parts to a maximum of 50%. With the cost reduction, we can submarine The use of titanium in the use of its corrosion resistance to extend the life; can also use the lightweight properties of titanium to meet the requirements of lightweight, such as armored vehicles.” British Defense Minister Gavin Williamson (Gavin Williamson) also said: “From the first-class From nuclear submarines and fighter jets to life-changing artificial limbs, our armed forces are using titanium alloys, but the production cycle and cost have led us to have not widely used it. This super innovative technology not only makes titanium alloys produce faster and cheaper, but also brings The proportion of titanium alloy parts and equipment in the entire military will increase."